Solar farm to power up in Edneyville

Published: Monday, June 16, 2014 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, June 15, 2014 at 3:15 p.m.

EDNEYVILLE - A 13-acre solar farm on Laycock Road is nearly complete and soon will feed up to 2 megawatts of renewable energy to the power grid. But two other Henderson County solar farms sought by the same green energy company have died on the vine due to governmental and utility costs.

The estimated $5 million Laycock Road project was one of several solar farms that Asheville-based Innovative Solar Systems had proposed here since Henderson County commissioners approved a text amendment allowing them in April 2012.

Solar developer John E. Green and his brother, Richard, sold the Laycock Road project “to one of our partners,” John Green said Thursday. “They are a North Carolina company that builds solar farms and that project is moving right along. I would think within 60 days, they should have it up and running.”

However, two other solar farms the sibling developers were seeking to build off N.C. Highway 280 in Mills River and on Jackson Road in Fletcher have fallen through, Green said.

Potential investors were put off by the costly conditions Fletcher Town Council attached to its approval of the Jackson Road site, while the Mills River farm required an expensive power line upgrade that made the project financially undesirable, he said.

The Green brothers had already invested six months and roughly $50,000 in surveys, site plans and engineering studies in their 2-megawatt project off Jackson Road when they went before Fletcher Town Council seeking a power line easement across Hooper's Creek into Fletcher Community Park.

Without the easement, the deal they had struck with farmer Stanley Harkins and his son, Danny Barnwell, to build the solar farm on 15 acres they owned was moot. Some councilmen thought annexing the solar farm wouldn't generate enough taxes to justify giving away a 30-foot strip in perpetuity, while others worried about its effects on the park's aesthetics.

After months of negotiations with town leaders, the Greens worked out a deal in which developers would pay $50,000 for Fletcher granting the easement, plus $5,600 per year for 30 years to compensate the town for property taxes it would've collected if council had annexed the Harkins/Barnwell property.

That turned out to be too steep for potential investors in the project, Green said Thursday.

“The town only gave us so long to pony up the $50,000 they wanted to start the clock ticking,” he said. “Between the higher-than-average rent rate and the money Fletcher wanted, we couldn't get any of our investors who want to own these deals interested. So that project will never be built, at least not by us. It was just all the resistance.”

The Highway 280 site “was a great location,” Green said, but roughly a mile and a half of power line there needed to be upgraded to handle the extra juice the project would've generated.

“Duke wanted $185,000 up front and once again, that money was going to have to be absorbed into the project,” he said. “That really made the financials weak, so that deal fell by the wayside and we couldn't even package it with the other deals. The investors that get involved with these, they scrutinize every penny that affects their bottom line.”

The Mills River site didn't just involve the up-front cost of installing bigger-capacity lines, Green said. Duke Energy would also have required potential investors to pay a monthly maintenance fee for the upgraded lines.

Innovative Solar Systems still has three or four other solar projects they're pursuing in Henderson County, Green said, along with four to six potential solar farms in Polk County. “We tried to find some stuff in Transylvania County, but it was all too rocky and mountainous,” he said. “We couldn't find any 10-acre tracts.”

Part of the challenge for solar developers, Green said, is that Duke Energy is “overwhelmed” by the volume of interconnection requests it's getting from prospective developers.

“So many people who were selling used cars last year just plaster them with applications and it clogs the system up for good guys like us,” he said.

One reason so many newcomers have hopped on the solar bandwagon is the state's 35 percent tax credit. Fueled by that incentive, North Carolina installed 335 MW of solar electric capacity last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, more than any state except California and Arizona.

“They think it's an easy process, that they're going to find a farmer's piece of land and slap up some panels,” said Green. “They don't realize that for every one project you get to the finish line, you've got four that don't make it. The margins on these deals are very slim for everybody involved.”

When North Carolina's solar tax credit expires in 2016, Green predicts “you won't see any solar farms being done after that because it would be a loss. Honestly, even if it wasn't going away, there's no land to be hand for the right projects in North Carolina. They've all been done or filed at this point. It's kind of played out.”

<p>EDNEYVILLE - A 13-acre solar farm on Laycock Road is nearly complete and soon will feed up to 2 megawatts of renewable energy to the power grid. But two other Henderson County solar farms sought by the same green energy company have died on the vine due to governmental and utility costs. </p><p>The estimated $5 million Laycock Road project was one of several solar farms that Asheville-based Innovative Solar Systems had proposed here since Henderson County commissioners approved a text amendment allowing them in April 2012. </p><p>Solar developer John E. Green and his brother, Richard, sold the Laycock Road project “to one of our partners,” John Green said Thursday. “They are a North Carolina company that builds solar farms and that project is moving right along. I would think within 60 days, they should have it up and running.”</p><p>However, two other solar farms the sibling developers were seeking to build off N.C. Highway 280 in Mills River and on Jackson Road in Fletcher have fallen through, Green said.</p><p>Potential investors were put off by the costly conditions Fletcher Town Council attached to its approval of the Jackson Road site, while the Mills River farm required an expensive power line upgrade that made the project financially undesirable, he said.</p><p>The Green brothers had already invested six months and roughly $50,000 in surveys, site plans and engineering studies in their 2-megawatt project off Jackson Road when they went before Fletcher Town Council seeking a power line easement across Hooper's Creek into Fletcher Community Park.</p><p>Without the easement, the deal they had struck with farmer Stanley Harkins and his son, Danny Barnwell, to build the solar farm on 15 acres they owned was moot. Some councilmen thought annexing the solar farm wouldn't generate enough taxes to justify giving away a 30-foot strip in perpetuity, while others worried about its effects on the park's aesthetics.</p><p>After months of negotiations with town leaders, the Greens worked out a deal in which developers would pay $50,000 for Fletcher granting the easement, plus $5,600 per year for 30 years to compensate the town for property taxes it would've collected if council had annexed the Harkins/Barnwell property. </p><p>That turned out to be too steep for potential investors in the project, Green said Thursday.</p><p>“The town only gave us so long to pony up the $50,000 they wanted to start the clock ticking,” he said. “Between the higher-than-average rent rate and the money Fletcher wanted, we couldn't get any of our investors who want to own these deals interested. So that project will never be built, at least not by us. It was just all the resistance.”</p><p>The Highway 280 site “was a great location,” Green said, but roughly a mile and a half of power line there needed to be upgraded to handle the extra juice the project would've generated. </p><p>“Duke wanted $185,000 up front and once again, that money was going to have to be absorbed into the project,” he said. “That really made the financials weak, so that deal fell by the wayside and we couldn't even package it with the other deals. The investors that get involved with these, they scrutinize every penny that affects their bottom line.”</p><p>The Mills River site didn't just involve the up-front cost of installing bigger-capacity lines, Green said. Duke Energy would also have required potential investors to pay a monthly maintenance fee for the upgraded lines. </p><p>Innovative Solar Systems still has three or four other solar projects they're pursuing in Henderson County, Green said, along with four to six potential solar farms in Polk County. “We tried to find some stuff in Transylvania County, but it was all too rocky and mountainous,” he said. “We couldn't find any 10-acre tracts.”</p><p>Part of the challenge for solar developers, Green said, is that Duke Energy is “overwhelmed” by the volume of interconnection requests it's getting from prospective developers.</p><p>“So many people who were selling used cars last year just plaster them with applications and it clogs the system up for good guys like us,” he said.</p><p>One reason so many newcomers have hopped on the solar bandwagon is the state's 35 percent tax credit. Fueled by that incentive, North Carolina installed 335 MW of solar electric capacity last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, more than any state except California and Arizona.</p><p>“They think it's an easy process, that they're going to find a farmer's piece of land and slap up some panels,” said Green. “They don't realize that for every one project you get to the finish line, you've got four that don't make it. The margins on these deals are very slim for everybody involved.”</p><p>When North Carolina's solar tax credit expires in 2016, Green predicts “you won't see any solar farms being done after that because it would be a loss. Honestly, even if it wasn't going away, there's no land to be hand for the right projects in North Carolina. They've all been done or filed at this point. It's kind of played out.”</p><p>___</p><p>Reach Axtell at than.axtell@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7860.</p>